Between Two Worlds: Australian Publishing on the Horns of an Import Dilemma

This article looks at the consequences of the 1991 amendment to the Australian Copyright Act, which meant that, for the copyright owner or authorised distributor to attain the right to control imports, it had to make the book available in Australia within 30 days of first publication overseas; and, to retain that right, it had to notify the retailer within 7 days of receiving an order whether it could be fulfilled within 90 days, and then in fact do so (. Accessed 28 June 2008). The article discusses the background to that change, what has happened since and what arguments are marshalled by those in favour of the status quo (restrictions that must be qualified for), and those in favour of a completely open market. The arguments used say much about the current preoccupations of those in Australian publishing. The debate around whether booksellers should be free to import copies of a new book from any supplier willing to sell them boils down to four issues: the availability in Australia of books published overseas; the price of books in Australia; the preservation of Australian publishing; and the protection of the rights of copyright holders. Those in favour of the open market believe that it would improve the first two without diminishing the latter two; those who support the status quo, that changing would bring no substantial benefits, and hurt both publishing and the rights of copyright holders. In summary, the reasons for maintaining the status quo are that things work fine as they are; that Australian literature (authors, bookshops, publishers) would suffer if things changed; and that the publisher is entitled to protect its investment through territorial control of copyright. The reasons for going to a completely open market are that only an open market can determine market price; that booksellers are unfairly disadvantaged competing against online sellers, on whom parallel importing restrictions are effectively not imposed; that copyright holders lose their rights when they sell something, and shouldn’t get a secondary chance to protect their investment; there is already a de facto open market, which unfairly restricts those who obey the law; there is a narrow window of opportunity for selling a book, which the current restrictions don’t serve; and the current situation is a poor compromise that doesn’t achieve the benefits of the open market.     

The Control of Reaching Movements by Young Infants

Samples of reaches were obtained from groups of infants aged 4.5, 6, and 7.5 months. Split-screen video recordings were transcribed as sequences of (x,y,z) hand coordinates, and the hand path was examined for evidence of initial aiming and subsequent correction of the movement path. At all ages, the initial direction of the movement was correlated with target direction, providing evidence that the hand was aimed toward the target. Additionally, changes in movement direction made after the commencement of the movement tended to curve the hand path toward the target, providing evidence of error correction. Local minima of hand speed evident within segments of continuous motion were associated with turn toward the target. However, the movement path was also curved toward the target within the movement elements bounded by these minima. This finding was seen as consistent with "continuous" correction of movement errors and as contrary to the suggestion that infant movements are concatenations of ballistic movement units whose boundaries are marked by troughs in the speed profile.     

University drop-out: an Italian experience

University students’ drop-out is a crucial issue for the universities’ efficiency evaluation and funding. In this paper, we analyze the drop-out rate of the Economics and Business faculty of Sapienza University of Rome. We use administrative data on 9,725 undergraduates students enrolled in three-years bachelor programs from 2001 to 2007 and perform a Generalized Linear Mixed Model. Our aim is to improve the general understanding of the students’ withdrawing focusing on personal characteristics of students rather than on institutional aspects of the university. The empirical analysis unveils the statistically significant effect of students’ characteristics, like citizenship and income, while the main findings relate a high drop-out probability to a high secondary school final mark and a low individual students’ performance.     

Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Program: Examining Black Girls’ Experiences at a Predominately White School

The Urban Review - A plethora of research on voluntary school choice programs and the impact on student’s outcomes have been documented. However, lacking are the experiences of students of...     

Understanding number sequences leads to understanding mathematics concepts

Ninety-six first grade students in an urban school system were tested in October and May on reading, mathematics, and their understanding of sequences of letters and numbers. A time lag analysis was subsequently conducted. In such analyses, cross-correlations between the first measurement of one variable and the second measurement of another are compared. The larger of the correlations indicates the direction of the relationship; i.e., which variable is most likely to be causal. Correlations of the fall scores on the number sequences with spring scores on the mathematics concepts scale were significant, while correlations of the fall mathematics concepts scores with spring number sequence scores were negligible. This indicates that understanding such complex sequences has a directional effect on understanding mathematics concepts. Fall–spring cross-correlations for the letter sequences and reading test, although significant, did not differ, and hence provided no indication of the direction of the relationship. Potential explanations were discussed.     

Using case studies in business education to promote networked thinking: findings of an intervention study

Case studies are central to the way management is currently taught at universities. Among other benefits attributed to the case study method is that it promotes networked thinking by learners. Networked thinking takes account of interactions and repercussions, making it crucial to decision-making within the complex system of rules that shapes current business reality. However, there is virtually no empirical evidence of the extent to which the case study method actually delivers the advantages attributed to it. This paper aims to remedy that gap in the literature. The paper considers the extent to which the case study method promotes networked thinking on the part of students on business and management courses. The research is designed as an intervention study involving pre- and post-testing. The study finds that students who have worked on a case study correctly identify more interactions in post-testing than in pre-testing.     

An exploration of the utility of digital badging in higher education settings

The use of digital badges is a trend in today’s education and professional settings. We conducted an exploration to see how badges are being used in higher education. Digital badges and more specifically, open badges, are used in a multitude of learning contexts and serve many purposes. This study conducted interviews with individuals leading digital badge initiatives in higher education institutions. Our findings suggest that badges awarded for participation are valued less meaningful than skill-based badges. For skill-based badges, evidence of mastery must be associated with the badge along with the evaluation criteria. Badge purpose, transferability, and learning objectives were noted as the top priorities when implementing badge offerings in higher education contexts.     

Using Academic Journals to Help Students Learn Subject Matter Content, Develop and Practice Critical Reasoning Skills, and Reflect on Personal Values in Food Science and Human Nutrition Classes

ABSTRACT:  It has been reported that students learn best when they use a wide variety of techniques to understand the information of the discipline, be it visual, auditory, discussion with others, metacognition, hands-on activities, or writing about the subject. We report in this article the use of academic journals not only as an aid for students to learn about content knowledge needed in an Experimental Foods course, but also as a way to have students think about and reflect on their own personal values. The topics of these journal entries cover several of the core competencies in the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Undergraduate Education Standards for Degrees in Food Science. These are basic principles of food science, as well as address several "Success Skills" (written communication, critical thinking, professionalism, life-long learning, interaction skills, and organizational skills). While there are no quantitative "measurements" of gains in learning, comments from the students indicate that learning took place, critical reasoning occurred, and personal values were analyzed. A guideline for writing and grading academic journals and a simple rubric for scoring the quality of the writing are included.