Fair Game: Using Simulators to Change Likelihood of Distracted Driving at the Minnesota State Fair

Distracted driving is a problem on U.S. roadways. Strategic campaigns have tried to curb this behavior with varying success. Researchers are examining how distracted-driving simulators might be useful in helping to combat this epidemic. Participants (N = 193) took part in a pretest/posttest, between-subjects field experiment where they were randomly assigned to one of five video game driving simulation scenarios (e.g., texting/talking/two combo conditions/distraction-free). Results indicated that participants texting during simulation committed more crashes, fog line crossings, and speed infractions than those talking and those who were not distracted. Further, results indicated that the simulation experience led to reports of being less likely to drive distracted in the future.     

Historical memory and educational privatisation: a portrait from Cambodia

Educational privatisation has received increasing scholarly attention in recent decades. In much of this work, educational privatisation is viewed as the outcomes of certain government policies or as the result of the influences of education businesses in school systems. This article presents a portrait of an educational entrepreneur in Cambodia to show how privatisation has been enacted by individuals. The empirical data for this article were collected between February and May 2014 using classroom observations and in-depth interviews. The method of portraiture was employed to understand educational privatisation through the perspective of the research subject while embracing the subjective nature of interpreting findings by the researcher. This article develops the literature on educational privatisation by offering a detailed look at the way in which historical memory shapes the behaviour of individuals. This analysis shows how educational privatisation is not only a process of government policy but also a social practice.     

Ability of test measures to predict competitive performance in elite swimmers

The purpose of this study was to quantify the relationship between changes in test measures and changes in competition performance for individual elite swimmers. The 24 male and 16 female swimmers, who were monitored for 3.6 years (s = 2.5), raced in a major competition at the end of each 6-month season (3.6 competitions, s = 2.2). A 7 x 200-m incremental swimming step-test and anthropometry were conducted in up to four training phases each season. Correlations of changes in step-test and anthropometry measures between training phases and seasons with changes in competition performance between seasons were derived with repeated-measures mixed-modelling and linear regression. Changes in competition performance were best tracked by changes in test measures between taper phases. The best single predictor of competition performance was skinfolds for females (r = -0.53). The best predictor from the step-test was stroke rate at a blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol x l(-1) (females: r = 0.46; males: r = 0.41); inclusion of the second-best step-test predictor in a multiple linear regression improved the correlations (females: r = 0.52 with speed in the seventh step included; males: r = 0.58 with peak lactate concentration included). In conclusion, a combination of fitness and technique factors is important for competitive performance. The step-test is a useful adjunct in a swimmer's training preparation for tracking large changes in performance.     

A Survey of MNC Succession Planning Effectiveness in China,Summer 2001

A survey based on Rothwell's (1994) Effective Succession Planning was administered to several worldclass multi‐national corporations (MNCs) operating in China. Subsidiary MNCs were found to have HRD succession planning problems. Responses regarding succession planning efforts and cultural issues were rigorously tested for significance. The organizational goals for total localization were found to be weak or absent.     

Allowing Learners to Choose

Abstract

For this study, we investigated the effects of self-controlled practice on learning multiple motor skills. Thirty participants were randomly assigned to self-control or yoked conditions. Participants learned a three-keystroke pattern with three different relative time structures. Those in the self-control group chose one of three relative time structures before each of 90 practice trials; yoked participants were not allowed to choose but were yoked to a self-control participant and followed that individual's sequence of practice trials. Results of the 24-hr serial transfer test revealed the self-control group exhibited significantly lower relative timing error, absolute error, and total error than the yoked group. Findings further support the efficacy of self-controlled learning.     

What happened to the Open University : Briefly

This paper provides an external, international assessment of The Open University, United Kingdom. It questions whether The Open University of the early 1970s is dead and perhaps — in the context of the current emphasis on open learning — invites staff of other open universities throughout the world to anticipate their future five or ten years hence.