On modeling and analyzing multi-agent systems using n-calculus

Dynamic architecture of multi-agent systems （MAS） is important for critical systems. As the existing formal specifications of MAS cannot describe its dynamic architecture, a formal approach using n-calculus is presented, which is suited for the describing and analyzing of concurrent MAS with dynamic topology, n-calculus describes the belief-desireintention （BDI） model that represents agent＇s mental states and provides many useful facilities to analyze MAS model such as deadlock, behavior equivalence, and model checking. To illustrate the favorable representation capability of n-calculus, an example of dynamic multi-agent systems in e-commerce is provided. Finally, by using an existing n-calculus supporting tool, MAS model and some key behaviors properties are analyzed and verified.     

The 6Rs: Inclusive Creative Methodology for Design Research

In fashion design, pedagogy balancing a strong technical foundation with a more disruptive attitude during the ideation and development procedures provides the potential for diverse, emergent, aesthetically and critically poignant outputs. The ultimate goal in this is to offer a learning environment that is inclusive and accesses dormant design curiosity, also, as a teacher, to devise methods that will lead to discovering a personal and distinct aesthetic vocabulary. ‘Ratio’, ‘resize’, ‘repeat’, ‘reduce’, ‘remix’ and ‘rearrange’ are the 6Rs that can challenge the creative design process and reprogramme the design brain into unearthing radical new forms, concepts and aesthetics. This article will address the established literature on the ways of nurturing creative thinking as it supports the methodology of serious play directed by the 6R terms to exercise ideation generation in fashion education. This discussion will be evidenced with a case study to show that the 6Rs can successfully introduce and/or expand creative thinking in fashion design processes. The aim of this is to provide students with tools, habits and tasks that empower a creative mindset when approaching the early conceptual and compositional stages of garment development, while also addressing the tutor’s role in establishing and exemplifying a creative ethos that is integral to initiating these methods and pedagogy. Most importantly, this approach is fundamentally driven by the need to invest in a more diverse student body to potentially reach unnoticed and less privileged fashion talent.     

Exploring school leadership in coastal schools: ‘getting a fair deal’ for students in disadvantaged communities

ABSTRACT

This paper is a response to an earlier article in the Journal of Education Policy, which calls for ‘new ideas and constructive principles and practices for the provision of socially-just education’. We first discuss how an economistic approach to education entrenches socioeconomic disadvantage and argue that, in the light of evidence that inequalities are increasing both nationally and internationally, it has become increasingly important that we understand models of social justice in schools in deprived locations. Reporting on original longitudinal research with schools in disadvantaged coastal areas in England, and drawing on the notion of the insistent affirmation of possibility, we then discuss three dimensions of active social justice undertaken by participating school leaders. By examining practical examples of social justice, we aim to shift the debate into more positive territory, in which there can be more appreciation of the efforts and outcomes of some leaders in highly disadvantaged areas and more leaders can take heart in following their example.     

Measuring Teacher–Child Relationships in the Greek Kindergarten Setting: A Validity Study of the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale–Short Form

Research Findings: The present study was designed to examine the factorial validity of the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale–Short Form (STRS-SF; R. C. Pianta, 2001 Hamre, B. K. and Pianta, R. C. 2001. Early teacher-child relationships and the trajectory of children's school outcomes through eighth grade.. Child Development, 72: 625–638. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and its invariance across gender in the Greek educational context. The STRS-SF comprises 15 items that measure 2 dimensions of teacher–child relationships: Closeness and Conflict. Fifty-six kindergarten teachers completed the STRS-SF about their students (n = 336). A 2-factor model with correlated latent factors was postulated and tested. Confirmatory factor analysis procedures showed marginal fit to the data (comparative fit index [CFI] = .902, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .066). The fit of the model was further improved by adding 2 error covariances (CFI = .931, RMSEA = .056). Cronbach's alpha coefficient showed adequate internal consistency for Closeness (α = .72) and Conflict (α = .82). In addition, there was a moderate negative association between the 2 subscales (r = ?.38). Examination of STRS-SF invariance showed that it was manifested in the same way across gender. Practice or Policy: The findings of the present study, which was conducted in a cultural context different from the one in which the STRS-SF was developed, seem to support the instrument's factorial validity and equivalence across gender.     

Home Literacy Exposure and Early Language and Literacy Skills in Children Who Struggle With Behavior and Attention Problems

Research Findings: This study investigated the relationships between behavior and attention problems and early language and literacy outcomes for 4-year-olds who experienced varied early home literacy environments. Participants were 1,364 children enrolled in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Attention problems and early home literacy exposure both significantly predicted language and literacy outcomes when relevant covariates were controlled. There was also a significant interaction between behavior and attention problems and early home literacy exposure in predicting expressive language abilities. Specifically, early home literacy exposure was related to more advanced expressive language achievement for children with behavior problems. In contrast, children with attention problems performed below their peers on expressive language measures even when they received comparable early home literacy exposure. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest the need for further research on the differential role of early home literacy exposure on the development of early language and literacy skills in children with behavior and attention problems.     

Campaign Agenda Formation: The News Media in the Korean Congressional Election of 2000

The present study, as an international application of an agenda-setting model, investigates how campaign agendas of issues are constructed in an election. The Korean Congressional election of 2000 provided rich empirical data for this study; the political party agenda, the civic agenda, and the news agenda were measured in terms of issue salience at two different data points in time during the official campaign period. The results of the cross-lagged rank-order correlations between different agendas indicated the following. First, the party agenda as a whole had little impact on the formation of the news agenda. The party–news relationship, however, showed a different pattern at an individual newspaper level. Specifically, a more conservative newspaper was more susceptible to those parties’ agenda-setting than was its progressive rival. Second, a nationwide civic movement for political reforms slightly influenced the formation of the news agenda, especially that of the reformist newspaper agenda. Both newspapers, on the other hand, substantially influenced the civic campaign's issue emphases. Finally, there existed no significant interactions between the party and the civic agendas.     

When Does Self-Affirmation Reduce Negative Responses to Antismoking Messages?

Previous research has shown that self-affirmation can reduce individuals’ defensive processing of threatening health messages. In this study, we examine two audience characteristics—smoking experience and trait reactance—that might regulate the effects of self-affirmation on negative message responses within the context of college smoking. Results of a controlled experiment indicate that self-affirmation worked to reduce negative message responses among smokers who were low in trait reactance. For smokers high in trait reactance and nonsmokers, the effect of self-affirmation was either unclear or went in a direction that led to even greater defensive processing.