Getting Better Faster: Accelerating Learning and Improvement

Acquiring process knowledge and skills and transferring technology into and across the organization creates a distinctive competitive advantage. A world-class methodology that accelerates improvement is presented. This methodology is proven effective in manufacturing and service industries, various government agencies and educational institutions. The process of planning and accelerating improvement using an integrated, self-evident set of principles distinguishes between mediocrity and excellence. This approach through systematic application results in more depth and breadth of process learning and facilitates greater acceptance of new thinking and using the latest technology. Our findings through this approach demonstrate that a pathway to continuous improvement can be achieved; thus, unbounded performance levels exist. Since improvement is always a people business, the model also enables each person to attain a greater sense of accomplishment, to acquire skills and knowledge that serve our lives and achieve our goals with a greater sense of confidence and hope.     

Developmental dyslexia: Related to specific or general deficits?

The present study was designed to examine the question of whether developmental dyslexia in 12-year-old students at the beginning of secondary education in the Netherlands is confined to problems in the domain of reading and spelling or also is related to difficulties in other areas. In particular, hypotheses derived from theories on phonological processing, rapid automatized naming, working memory, and automatization of skills were tested. To overcome the definition and selection problems of many previous studies, we included in our study all students in the first year of secondary special education in a Dutch school district. Participants were classified as either dyslexic, garden-variety, or hyperlexic poor readers, according to the degree of discrepancy between their word recognition and listening comprehension scores. In addition, groups of normal readers were formed, matching the poor readers in either reading age or chronological age. A large test battery was administered to each student, including phonological, naming, working memory, speed of processing, and motor tests. The findings indicate that dyslexia is associated with deficits in (1) phonological recoding, word recognition (both in their native Dutch and in English as a second language), and spelling skills; and (2) naming speed for letters and digits. Dyslexia was not associated with deficits in other areas. The results suggest that developmental dyslexia, at the age of 12, might be (or might have become) a difficulty rather isolated from deficiencies in other cognitive and motor skills.     

Labor force experience and earnings: Women with children

Married women with children are observed to earn less than men, and less also than women without children. Differences in the hourly wage rates of individuals of the same age and with the same educational attainment may reflect, in part, differences in labor force experience. While interruption in the work experience of women is recognized as an important cause of lower current wage rates, less attention has been directed to the impact of child-related reductions in hours worked when women are in the labor force. This paper examines the impact of hours worked in all past periods on the current wage rate. Our model, in which the ‘intensity’ of an individual's work experience in any period can vary from 0 (no work) to 100% (full-time work), is contrasted with the standard human capital earnings function, in which intensity is assumed to be 100% in every period subsequent to the completion of school. Using a new data set, both models are estimated for a sample of working mothers. Contrasting the wages of the women in this sample with the wages of their husbands, we find that differences in the intensity of prior work experience account for approximately half of the observed sex-related wage gap.     

Junior high school science teacher preparation,teaching behavior,and student achievement

The findings challenge both practices and prejudices in junior high school science teacher preparation.     

Building community bonds,bridges, and linkages to promote the career readiness of high school students in the United States

The career readiness of high school students has been a longstanding issue that has received renewed attention in recent years. To document an approach to promoting career readiness in the United States, we conducted an exploratory case study of a distinguished information technology career academy. Using the premises of capital building as a frame of reference, we found a community who viewed career readiness as a form of investment in human capital development. As such, a network of business partners collaborated with academy staff in providing school- and work-based learning opportunities for academy students. This approach was complemented by an emphasis on the development of social capital with social bonds, bridges, and linkages in place to sustain the network identity and development.     

Designing and delivering skills transferability and employment mobility: the challenges of a market-driven vocational education and training system

As job security declines and precarious employment arrangements become more prevalent, transferable skills have become vital for job seeking success. In recognition of this issue, many governments are seeking to redesign their training systems in ways that transferable skills become better emphasised. This paper examines the challenges of developing transferable skills among a nation’s workforce and the tensions that can emerge between training design intentions and training delivery outcomes when training delivery is marketised. Australia, where incremental training sector reforms have occurred since the late 1980s, serves as the context for this study. While training design occurs through a tripartite process involving employer, government and union representatives, training delivery is now determined in an open, deregulated market environment. Our analysis reveals a complex underlying design with an in-built intention of developing widely transferable skills, yet there exists significant concern about the actual training outcomes. We conclude that in an environment where VET delivery is user-choice driven with the aim of fulfilling specific employer skills needs the quality, depth and breadth of transferable skills are compromised.     

关于具有测边导坑和有限岩石覆盖层的隧道开口的离散分析（英文）

目的:针对新加坡的花岗岩地质结构,研究将典型马蹄形隧道挖掘成双拱隧道时岩石支撑的设计问题。利用离散元法分析侧边导坑对隧道主体开口的影响。创新点:1.基于平面应变假设,提出一个针对性的离散元模型以分析侧边导坑的设置对主体隧道支撑的影响;2.此模型适用于解决底下长跨度开口的支撑设计问题,如大众捷运系统隧道和紧贴式双孔隧道的建造,补充了传统经验主义的设计方法。方法:1.采用离散元法对马蹄形隧道开口支撑问题进行非连续分析;2.采用二维平面应变模型简化问题。结论:1.离散元法可用于分析有限岩石覆盖层的失效机制,单隧道支撑要求以及增加侧边导坑后的支撑要求;2.模型计算结果显示,侧边导坑的挖掘使得支柱总的螺栓连接作用力增加了一倍。     

Managing Architectural Records in the House that Rubber Built: A Case Study in Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration in Museum Archives

Managing architectural records presents a number of challenges, especially in museums and historic sites where a number of disciplines tend to converge. This case study will chronicle the architectural drawings project at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron, Ohio that occurred in two phases over a fifteen-year period. It will present the situations that arose and the multi-disciplinary approaches devised to solve them. It also will illustrate how collaboration across several inherently different yet related professions—including archivists, objects curators, and restoration architects—produced the best outcome and how others can apply these methods to address similar projects.     

Active video games in fully immersive virtual reality elicit moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and improve cognitive performance in sedentary college students

Background:Active video games are a new method for increasing physical activity(PA).Fully immersive virtual reality(VR)is a hardware device on which an active video game can run.Active(video games in)VR(AVR),might increase immersion,game engagement,and moderate-to-vigorous PA(MVPA),thereby yielding greater exercise-related benefits,e.g.,cognitive performance.Methods:We examined the induction of MVPA via an AVR and a sedentary VR(SVR)as well as the effects of VR play on cognitive performance,which was monitored using 2 different methods.Each of 29 sedentary college students attended three 20-min laboratory sessions(AVR,SVR,or control)in a randomized order;during the control session,they sat quietly doing nothing.A fully immersive headset was used for the 2 video game sessions.We monitored and computed participants’PA using hip-wom accelerometers(wGT3 x-bt;ActiGraph,Pensacola,FL,USA)and a heart rate band(Polar H7;Polar,Kempele,Finland).After each session,the participants completed a mnemonic similarity test(MST)to measure recognition memory.They also filled out a motion sickness questionnaire and an abbreviated game experience questionnaire.Results:The AVR session induced a significantly greater heart rate and more time spent in MVPA than did either of the other 2 sessions regardless of the PA monitoring method.AVR elicited greater game experience questionnaire-assessed sensory and imaginative immersion,challenge,and positive affect than did SVR.The mnemonic similarity test recognition score was marginally higher post-AVR session than it was post-SVR session.Conclusion:AVR elicited MVPA without a significant increase in motion sickness and induced a better game experience and better borderline cognitive performance than did SVR.