On the Perceived Quality of Movies

We address the question of the quality of movies produced between 1950 and 1970. A first outcome of our analysis is that the quality assessments made during the Cannes Festival, and to a lesser degree, by the U.S. Academy are short-lasting. In contrast to this, consumers seem consistent over time. There is, however, one issue on which experts agree as well as consumers: American movies dominate both in terms of commercial success and in terms of quality. There is less agreement, and sometimes there is even dissent concerning other dimensions. This does not come as a surprise and merely indicates that there is hardly a common yardstick along which the quality of a movie can be measured. Therefore, decomposing a work of art into quantifiable characteristics – even in a subjective but possibly unanimous way – would make it possible to explain the divergences between audiences and changes of appreciation over time.     

Children's friendship choices: Effects of school behavior

This study addresses three issues: (a) Which attributes characterize children's friendship choices? (b) Which show sex differences? (c) Which dimensions of teacher ratings of behavior contribute to peer selections? The issue of peer-teacher relatedness is addressed by obtaining peer nominations for certain attributes and independent measures of behavior that have been shown to be related to peer popularity. The results demonstrate that: (a) Peer acceptance is indexed by “Like to Sit By,” and this pattern is generally similar for boys and girls, with the exception of the dimension “Good at Games,” which characterizes boys' choosing peers. (b) The data on peer acceptance and rejection do not result in simple, bipolar dimensions, since these are not highly negatively correlated. (c) When peer nominations are assessed for possible teacher influences, an interesting sex difference emerges: girls prefer not to sit next to children whom their teachers rate as high in behavior problems.     

Science and Engineering Education: Europe?U.S.A.

A definition of basic philosophy for our future education is given, and the implications with regard to our future teaching system are analyzed. Then the European primary and secondary education, and automatic selection in the precollege year are discussed. The teaching system in a European engineering school is explained, and a discussion of the main results of the 1957 International Conference on Engineering Education and Training, in Paris, is included. Finally, it is explained why, in many fields of science and engineering, the European university education appears superior to ours.     

International cooperation in educational research

International Review of Education -     

Hints for the improvement of quality teaching in introductory engineering statistics courses

In recent years there has been a spectacular increase in concern within society about problems of service and, in particular, that of university teaching. Teaching quality can be understood as a goal to be achieved in three nurtured phases: course planning; the adoption of a methodological approach; and the evaluation of the results. The teaching of statistics in engineering schools raises common problems as well as certain others specific to each qualification. In this article, proposals are made about how to improve the quality of teaching of statistics to undergraduate engineering students.     

Searching for New Answers: The Application of Task‐Technology Fit to E‐Textbook Usage

Students have been slow to adopt e‐textbooks even though they are often less expensive than traditional textbooks. Prior e‐textbook research has focused on adoption behavior, with little research to date on how students perceive e‐textbooks fitting their needs. This work builds upon Task‐Technology Fit (TTF) and Consumer Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) theory to present a student‐perspective model of e‐textbook usage. By contextualizing TTF and UTAUT2 to e‐textbooks, the research fills a gap in the literature and provides guidance to researchers and practitioners. The goal of the research is to understand how students perceive their task of learning to fit with e‐textbook technology, and how that fit influences e‐textbook usage and expected performance in their classes. To achieve this goal, the research develops a model to test the relationship between perceived TTF of e‐textbooks and UTAUT2‐defined user characteristics that encourage adoption behaviors, thus facilitating student learning. The findings show that four factors impact a student's perceived TTF: substitution, habit, hedonic motivation, and facilitating conditions. Furthermore, perceived TTF positively correlates with students’ e‐textbook usage and expected performance in classes when using e‐textbooks. While price value exhibits a measurable effect on e‐textbook utilization, it is a minor factor.