Regulation

Marion Davidson and Martha Blues Making it Legal: A Law Primer for. the Craftmaker,Visual Artist and Writer,(New York: McGraw-Hill 1979-$8.95 paper)

An Introduction to the Study of Public Policy by Charles O. Jones (this one is 1917. and a 2nd ed. 258 pp, –price not given. paper)

Policy Analysis for Public Decisions by Duncan MacRae Jr. and James A. Wilde (325 pp..—$9.95, paper)

Essentials of Public Administration: A. Text with Readings by Larry B. Hill and F. Ted Hebert n 432 pp. —price not given, paper)     

Local Journal Utilization Report: Supporting Data for Collection Decisions

The Local Journal Utilization Report (LJUR) is a customized report about an institution's citation and publishing history. Based on data from the Web of Science database, LJUR can be a useful tool for libraries in a variety of capacities, from informing journal cancellation decisions to quantifying institutional research trends.     

Young Children''s Understanding of the Role That Sensory Experiences Play in Knowledge Acquisition

3 studies investigated whether young children understand that the acquisition of certain types of knowledge depends on the modality of the sensory experience involved. 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children were exposed to pairs of objects that either looked the same but felt different, or that felt the same but looked different. In Study 1, 36 children were asked to state, when one of these objects was hidden inside a toy tunnel, whether they would need to see the object or feel it in order to determine its identity. In Study 2, 48 children were asked to state which of 2 puppets knew that an object hidden inside a tunnel possessed a given visual or tactile property, when one puppet was looking at the object and the other was feeling it. In Study 3, 72 children were asked, in a scenario similar to Study 2, to state for each puppet whether he could tell, just by looking or by feeling, that the hidden object possessed a certain visual or tactile property. Children were also asked what was the best way to find out whether a given object possessed a certain visual or tactile property. Results of all 3 studies suggest that an appreciation of the different types of knowledge our senses can provide (i.e., modality-specific knowledge) develops between the ages of 3 and 5. The results are discussed in relation to young children's developing understanding of the role that informational access plays in knowledge acquisition.     

Students’ motivation in biology lessons—can student autonomy reduce the gender gap?

When it comes to biology lessons in Germany, girls generally exhibit higher levels of self-determined motivation than boys. Previous research suggests that fostering student autonomy could be a way to effectively address this gender gap. To investigate gender-related effects in biology education, a sample of 303 sixth-grade students (M_age = 11.31 years, SD_age = 0.58 years) participated in a 3-h teaching unit on harvest mice that was taught in either an autonomy-supportive or controlling manner. The results revealed a significant effect of the treatment on self-determined motivation, with the effect being stronger for the boys. In the treatment with controlling teaching behavior, gender-related differences in self-determined motivation became apparent. In contrast, the gender gap was mainly smaller in the treatment with autonomy-supportive teaching behavior. Thus, the results suggest that satisfying the need for autonomy appears to be an effective means to help bridge the gender gap in biology lessons.

     

Politics and Education

This paper examines the question of whether the period since German unification has been one of reform in the education system of Germany. It outlines the developments in secondary education in Germany since 1990, and argues that the changes in the eastern federal states do not represent reform, but rather a restoration of the less than ideal educational structures that have been in place for so long in the western federal states.     

The relevance of body positioning and its training effect on badminton smash

One of the dominant skills in badminton is the forehand overhead smash, which consists of 1/5 attacks during games. Empirical evidences show that one has to adjust the body position in relation to the coming shuttlecock to produce a powerful and accurate smash. Therefore, positioning is a fundamental aspect influencing smash quality. Unfortunately, a search of literature has shown that there is a dearth/lack of study on this fundamental aspect. The goals of this study were to determine the influence of positioning and training experience on smash quality in order to discover information that could help learn/acquire the skill. Using 3D motion capture and full-body biomechanical modelling, 14 skilled and 15 novice players were analysed. Results have revealed that the body positioning has direct influence on shuttlecock release angle and clearance height of the offensive player. The results also suggest that, for training the positioning of beginners, one could conduct a self-selected comfort position towards a statically hanged shuttlecock and then step one foot back – a practical reference marker for learning. As one gains experience through repetitive training, improved limbs’ coordination would increase smash quality further. We hope our findings will benefit practitioners for developing effective training programmes for beginners.