Through the Looking Glass: Twenty Years of Chinese Internet Research

This article is a report on a research project that collected detailed information on articles, book chapters, books, and so on, published by academics on the Chinese Internet between 1990 and early 2013. The findings of the meta-review of 20 years of Chinese Internet research, as gleaned from quantitative and qualitative analysis of the collected body of publications, are presented and discussed in this report. It engages with the conclusions drawn by previous meta-studies, and seeks to shed a critical, self-reflexive light onto the main discursive formations of their research field. The article concludes that there is still a lot of scope for growth in studies of the Internet in China and lists several of the identified research gaps.     

Effects of Series Elasticity on the Human Knee Extension Torque-Angle Relationship in Vivo

Abstract

This paper examines whether self-controlled feedback schedules enhance learning, because they are more tailored to the performers' needs than externally controlled feedback schedules. Participants practiced a sequential timing task. One group of learners (self-control) was provided with feedback whenever they requested it, whereas another group (yoked) had no influence on the feedback schedule. The self-control group showed learning benefits on a delayed transfer test. Questionnaire results revealed that self-control learners asked for feedback primarily after good trials andyoked learners preferred to receive feedback after good trials. Analyses demonstrated that errors were lower on feedback than no-feedback trials for the self-control group but not for the yoked group. Thus, self-control participants appeared to use a strategy for requesting feedback. This might explain learning advantages of self-controlled practice.     

Normative feedback effects on learning a timing task

This study investigated the influence of normative feedback on learning a sequential timing task. In addition to feedback about their performance per trial, two groups of participants received bogus normative feedback about a peer group's average block-to-block improvement after each block of 10 trials. Scores indicated either greater (better group) or less (worse group) than the average improvement, respectively. On the transfer test 1 day later which required producing novel absolute movement times, the better group demonstrated more effective learning than the worse group. These findings add to the mounting evidence that motivational factors affect motor skill learning.     

“Urban-Rural” Dynamics and Indigenous Urbanization: The Case of Inuit Language Use in Ottawa

The establishment of cities in Canada has played a pivotal role in the displacement, dispossession, and marginalization of Indigenous peoples. Yet, more than half of the Indigenous population now resides in cities, and urbanization continues to increase. This paper addresses a specific aspect of Inuit mobility—namely, migration and the dynamic use of Inuit language and knowledge in the city of Ottawa. Drawing on community-based participatory research in collaboration with an Ottawa Inuit literacy centre, we investigate a range of Inuit-led educational practices that emerged from collaborative work with a group of Inuit women. Suggested activities drew on semiotic resources—including objects and language—that involved retracing the migrational trajectories of Inuit between cities and between nonurban communities, particularly those in their Arctic “homelands.” Such practices appear to cut across the “urban-rural divide,” particularly since cities were rarely mentioned, a fact that seems to signal the irrelevance of this dichotomy for urban Inuit. In this context, the exploration of artifactual literacies—more specifically, speaker interactions that unfold around culturally meaningful objects—led to the following conclusions: (1) multilingual oracy is key to complex transcontextual meaning making; (2) spatiotemporal reference is anchored both in individual experience and in connectivity with members of a newly constituted community; and (3) there is a sharing of cross-generational horizontal knowledge, which includes the abstention from any enforcement of a linguistic norm.     

The Effect of Implicit Stereotypes on the Physical Performance of Older Adults

The purpose of this study was to explore how stereotypes affect physical performance in older adults. During Experiment 1, older adults were primed with objects representing aging stereotypes to determine whether these objects can activate stereotypes of aging. Results from the first part of this study provide evidence that certain material objects have implicit meaning and can activate stereotypes of aging. During Experiment 2, 96 community dwelling older adults were randomly assigned to one of three groups: exposure to positive stereotypes of aging (n = 32), exposure to negative stereotypes of aging (n = 32), or a neutral condition (n = 31). Gait speed, standing balance, and lower extremity muscle performance were tested before and after exposure to the objects. Results revealed no significant differences between those exposed to positive stereotypes, negative stereotypes, or the neutral condition. Physical performance was not affected by exposure to objects related to stereotypes of aging. Compared to lab settings where stereotypes are activated on a subliminal level, there may be multiple factors competing for the control of behavior when stereotypes are presented as objects, which may lessen the effect of stereotype activation on behavior.     

Teacher noticing and its growth toward expertise: an expert–novice comparison with pre-service and in-service secondary mathematics teachers

Educational Studies in Mathematics - Mathematical modelling competencies have become a prominent construct in research on the teaching and learning of mathematical modelling and its applications in...     

The interplay among environmental attitudes,pro-environmental behavior,social identity,and pro-environmental institutional climate. A longitudinal study

By using a panel design in a sample of 298 undergraduate/master students at an Italian public university, the present study aimed to test longitudinally the interplay among environmental attitudes, pro-environmental behavior, social identity, and pro-environmental institutional climate. The relationships were tested with cross-lagged analysis based on two waves over a 2-month period. The cross-lagged panel analysis revealed positive cross-lagged effects of social identity on environmental attitudes and pro-environmental institutional climate perceptions on social identity. Environmental attitudes and social identity at Time 1 did not predict Time 2 pro-environmental behavior. Pro-environmental behavior at Time 1 did not predict Time 2 environmental attitudes. Pro-environmental institutional climate perceptions at Time 1 did not predict Time 2 pro-environmental behavior. Finally, social identity at Time 1 did not predict Time 2 pro-environmental institutional climate perceptions.     

Is season of birth related to developmental dyslexia?

Different moderators/mediators of risk are involved in developmental dyslexia (DD), but data are inconsistent. We explored the prevalence of season of birth and its association with gender and age of school entry in an Italian sample of dyslexic children compared to an Italian normal control group. The clinical sample included 498 children (345 boys, mean age 10.3 ± 2.1 years) with DD, the control sample 1,276 children (658 boys, mean age 10.8 ± 2.2 years) from four elementary schools from the same urban area, and with the same socio-economic status level. A prevalence of birth in autumn was found among children with DD compared to controls (34% versus 24%, p < 0.0001). Children with DD were more frequently males (p < 0.0001) and had a lower mean age of school entry (p < 0.0001). Regarding the distribution of ages, 11.4% of children with DD, but none of the subjects in the control group, started school before 5.7 years. Therefore, greater risk of DD was related to age of school entry (OR = 2.72), gender (OR = 2.16), and season of birth (OR = 1.21). Significant interactions between boys with DD born in autumn, and correct school of entry (OR = 2.56) were joint predictors of higher risk of DD. The association between birth in autumn and DD may be explained by the earlier age of school entry, which may be a critical element in the youngest children with DD or at risk to DD. Whether Italian school policy is oriented to anticipate the school entry, a closer detection of early learning disorders and associated risk factors (familial load, specific language disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) should be warranted.