Young Children’s Representations of Spatial and Functional Relations Between Objects

Three experiments investigated changes from 15 to 30 months of age in children’s (N = 114) mastery of relations between an object and an aperture, supporting surface, or form. When choosing between objects to insert into an aperture, older children selected objects of an appropriate size and shape, but younger children showed little selectivity. Further experiments probed the sources of younger children’s difficulty by comparing children’s performance placing a target object in a hole, on a 2‐dimensional form, or atop another solid object. Together, the findings suggest that some factors limiting adults’ object representations, including the difficulty of comparing the shapes of positive and negative spaces and of representing shapes in 3 dimensions, contribute to young children’s errors in manipulating objects.     

Hey,HPT practitioner! Talk to me

It is important to clearly articulate what the essence of human performance technology (HPT) is about. Too often we are caught in our own jargon and confuse our clients and jeopardize appropriate outcomes. A group of graduate students in an introductory HPT class responded to an assignment to explain to other professionals what human performance practitioners do. Their thoughts, written in their own voices, are reflected here.     

Evaluation for Improvement ‐a Case Study

Abstract: Lauvås, P., Skogedal, O. & von der Fehr, F. R. 1980. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 24,61‐78. The present paper is a micro‐level study of one lecture within dental education directed at 3 problems, all related to the problems of having one's own teaching evaluated and improved. The results suggest that some cautiousness should be placed on interpreting student ratings of teaching to indicate teaching effects on student learning. Student ratings are valuable feedback on the presentation made by the teacher but do not always correspond to learning results.     

Mobility: The New Blue

The study of American public address is in the midst of a remarkable renaissance. One aspect of that renaissance is a resurgence of interest in the American oratorical tradition; another is a growing occupation with the close analysis of rhetorical texts. These developments are particularly important given the need to develop a body of critical literature explicating the rhetorical artistry of classic texts from the heritage of American oratory. Like other aspects of study in public address, creating such a body of literature should be regarded as important in its own right, rather than for its potential to fill in the historical record or to enhance the development of rhetorical theory.

AMERICAN ORATORS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. Edited by Bernard K. Duffy and Halford R. Ryan. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1987; pp. 468. $65.00.     

Small‐Sample Equating Using a Synthetic Linking Function

This study addressed the sampling error and linking bias that occur with small samples in a nonequivalent groups anchor test design. We proposed a linking method called the synthetic function, which is a weighted average of the identity function and a traditional equating function (in this case, the chained linear equating function). Specifically, we compared the synthetic, identity, and chained linear functions for various‐sized samples from two types of national assessments. One design used a highly reliable test and an external anchor, and the other used a relatively low‐reliability test and an internal anchor. The results from each of these methods were compared to the criterion equating function derived from the total samples with respect to linking bias and error. The study indicated that the synthetic functions might be a better choice than the chained linear equating method when samples are not large and, as a result, unrepresentative.     

How the Public Views the Swiss Higher Institutes

This article presents the results of a public opinion survey of the so-called higher institutes in Switzerland, specifically, of two kinds of higher education institutions, the cantonal universities and the Federal polytechnic schools. Conducted in 2000, this survey was the first national survey of its kind to be undertaken in Switzerland. As could be expected given the diversity of Switzerland, there were variations in the results according to linguistic region, the German-speaking population favouring a Humboldtian conception of the University, the French- and Italian-speaking population, a more Napoleonic, service-oriented orientation. There were variations as to education, those not having studied in a higher education institution of the kind being surveyed being more critical than those who had studied in one. All in all, the Swiss have a very utilitarian view of their higher institutes.     

Schooling as an Instrumental vs. a Terminal Value for Finnish 18‐Year‐Old Adolescents

Rauste‐von Wright, M. 1984. Schooling as an Instrumental vs. a Terminal Value for Finnish 18‐Year‐Old Adolescents. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 28, 187‐198. In the context of a longitudinal developmental study, 182 girls and boys were asked, at the ages of 15 and 18, about the importance of schooling to themselves personally. At both age levels 164 subjects considered schooling either to have an instrumental value (group I) or to be valuable in itself, i.e. to have a terminal value (group T). When the subjects were 15 years old, groups I and T did not differ on other variables. When they were 18 years old, group I (n = 71) and group T (n = 93) differed on several variables including life values, views of work, vocational intentions, desired standard of living, external vs. internal locus of control, leisure interests, smoking, sexual experiences, and attitudes towards the future. The differences formed a fairly consistent pattern, suggestive of two different types of orientation in life.     

Skill-dependent proximal-to-distal sequence in team-handball throwing

The importance of proximal-to-distal sequencing in human performance throwing has been reported previously. However, a comprehensive comparison of the proximal-to-distal sequence in team-handball throwing in athletes with different training experience and competition is lacking. Therefore, the aim of the study was to compare the ball velocity and proximal-to-distal sequence in the team-handball standing throw with run-up of players of different skill (less experienced, experienced, and elite). Twenty-four male team-handball players (n = 8 for each group) performed five standing throws with run-up with maximal ball velocity and accuracy. Kinematics and ball trajectories were recorded with a Vicon motion capture system and joint movements were calculated. A specific proximal-to-distal sequence, where elbow flexion occurred before shoulder internal rotation, was found in all three groups. These results are in line with previous studies in team-handball. Furthermore, the results of the present study suggest that in the team-handball standing throw with run-up, increased playing experience is associated with an increase in ball velocity as well as a delayed start to trunk flexion.