The expected value of possession in professional rugby league match-play

This study estimated the expected point value for starting possessions in different field locations during rugby league match-play and calculated the mean expected points for each subsequent play during the possession. It also examined the origin of tries scored according to the method of gaining possession. Play-by-play data were taken from all 768 regular-season National Rugby League (NRL) matches during 2010–2013. A probabilistic model estimated the expected point outcome based on the net difference in points scored by a team in possession in a given situation. An iterative method was used to approximate the value of each situation based on actual scoring outcomes. Possessions commencing close to the opposition’s goal-line had the highest expected point equity, which decreased as the location of the possession moved towards the team’s own goal-line. Possessions following an opposition error, penalty or goal-line dropout had the highest likelihood of a try being scored on the set subsequent to their occurrence. In contrast, possessions that follow an opposition completed set or a restart were least likely to result in a try. The expected point values framework from our model has applications for informing playing strategy and assessing individual and team performance in professional rugby league.     

A faceted approach to conceptualizing tasks in information seeking

The nature of the task that leads a person to engage in information interaction, as well as of information seeking and searching tasks, have been shown to influence individuals’ information behavior. Classifying tasks in a domain has been viewed as a departure point of studies on the relationship between tasks and human information behavior. However, previous task classification schemes either classify tasks with respect to the requirements of specific studies or merely classify a certain category of task. Such approaches do not lead to a holistic picture of task since a task involves different aspects. Therefore, the present study aims to develop a faceted classification of task, which can incorporate work tasks and information search tasks into the same classification scheme and characterize tasks in such a way as to help people make predictions of information behavior. For this purpose, previous task classification schemes and their underlying facets are reviewed and discussed. Analysis identifies essential facets and categorizes them into Generic facets of task and Common attributes of task. Generic facets of task include Source of task, Task doer, Time, Action, Product, and Goal. Common attributes of task includes Task characteristics and User’s perception of task. Corresponding sub-facets and values are identified as well. In this fashion, a faceted classification of task is established which could be used to describe users’ work tasks and information search tasks. This faceted classification provides a framework to further explore the relationships among work tasks, search tasks, and interactive information retrieval and advance adaptive IR systems design.     

On Fitting a Multivariate Two-Part Latent Growth Model

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of the number of targets specified on the quality of exploratory factor analysis solutions with a complex underlying structure and incomplete substantive measurement theory. Three Monte Carlo studies were performed based on the ratio of the number of observed variables to the number of underlying factors. Within each study, communality, sample size, and the number of targets were manipulated. Outcomes included a measure of congruence and a measure of variability with regard to the rotated pattern matrix. The magnitude of the main effect for the influence of the number of targets on congruence and variability ranged from moderate to large. The magnitude of the interaction between the number of targets and level of communality ranged from small to moderate with regard to congruence and variability. Consistent with theoretical expectations, the minimum number of targets to specify to be reasonably assured of obtaining an accurate solution varied across study conditions.     

校门边的申请者

去自己理想的大学读书是每个学生的梦想,了解学校的学术环境、人文环境,乃至地理环境是每一个学生在入学前想做的事情,本文介绍了美国耶鲁大学的部分特点和校园的传统,希望读者朋友能够藉此了解一点儿美国大学校园文化。     

Determinants of Self-Worth in Children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder

Harter (1987) argues that both competence-importance discrepancy and social support/positive regard constructs predict a child's global self-worth. In the current study, this model was used to ascertain whether both determinants were pertinent to the self-worth of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD: American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and to control children. A group of 36 children with DCD were compared with a matched group of 36 normally coordinated children. The two groups were matched on variables of age, gender, and verbal IQ. It was found that Harter's (1987) model was supported for the group of control children as both the competence-importance discrepancy and the social support/positive regard construct were significant predictors of self-worth. However, for the DCD group, only the competence-importance discrepancy predicted self-worth. The results of this study indicate that future research efforts need to examine an alternative model which incorporates the variables that are relevant to the self-worth of children with DCD.     

The Determinants of Students' Perceived Learning Outcomes and Satisfaction in University Online Education: An Empirical Investigation*

In this study, structural equation modeling is applied to examine the determinants of students' satisfaction and their perceived learning outcomes in the context of university online courses. Independent variables included in the study are course structure, instructor feedback, self‐motivation, learning style, interaction, and instructor facilitation as potential determinants of online learning. A total of 397 valid unduplicated responses from students who have completed at least one online course at a university in the Midwest were used to examine the structural model. The results indicated that all of the antecedent variables significantly affect students' satisfaction. Of the six antecedent variables hypothesized to affect the perceived learning outcomes, only instructor feedback and learning style are significant. The structural model results also reveal that user satisfaction is a significant predictor of learning outcomes. The findings suggest online education can be a superior mode of instruction if it is targeted to learners with specific learning styles (visual and read/write learning styles) and with timely, meaningful instructor feedback of various types.     

Second-order conditioning: Different outcomes in fear and eyelid conditioning

Second-order conditioning has been frequently observed with the fear response but not with the eyelid response. The present experiments manipulated the temporal relationship between the second-order and first-order stimulus on second-order conditioning trials. Our results indicated that a trace second-order procedure is not effective with either response system. Second-order fear conditioning was most prominent when the second-order CS terminated at the onset of the first-order CS. This arrangement, however, did not produce second-order eyelid CRs. In eyelid conditioning, the second-order CS appears to inhibit responding to the first-order CS which immediately follows it.     

Identity Politics and the Queering of Art Education: Inclusion and the Confessional Route to Salvation

In this article I discuss the relationship between theories of identity and making practices in secondary art and design. Of particular interest is the way students are invited to explore identities in relation to a sense of self and the extent to which this is informed by schools' concern to make diversity visible through multicultural celebration, thus framing and possibly limiting exploration. It is notable that non‐heternormative sexual identities remain largely invisible in the official curriculum and I examine the disjunction between this absence and their hypervisibilty in the mass media and its culture of confession/exposure. I revisit Michel Foucault's discussion of the history of sexuality as a way to understand the development of confessional discourses in modern culture and to provide an alternative and ambivalent reading of the power relations implicit in work exploring identities by art and design students. Specifically, I look at the position of gay and lesbian students and teachers, and ask whether their sexuality can figure within the injunction ‘explore your identity’. Given the heteronormative culture of schooling, I end by recommending that individuals should be wary of outing themselves in the name of self‐expression but that art teachers could use strategies of distancing to engage students with issues of sexuality and join with others to counter homophobia by queering the curriculum.