Are interpersonal relationships necessary for developing trust in online group projects?

Trust between group members has been suggested as an important part of small group work in online classrooms. Developing interpersonal relationships with group members may promote a sense of trust among them; however, research shows mixed results. The current study explored how students’ perceptions of the importance of interpersonal relationships in online groups affected their perceptions of trust and experiences within the group. Students enrolled in online classes that incorporated a group project were surveyed about their experiences with online group projects. Participants did not find interpersonal relationships as necessary in trust development. However, student gender and type (i.e., distance versus on-campus) were important factors in determining the type of experiences students had within their online groups. Males reported more negative experiences than females, and distance education students desired relationships with group members more than on-campus students.     

Psychometric evaluation of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire-Very Short Form in preschool children using parent and teacher report

Temperament is a developmentally important construct, hierarchically comprised of several lower-order dimensions subsumed under effortful control, negative affectivity, and surgency. The Children's Behavior Questionnaire-Very Short Form (CBQ-VSF) was developed as a brief measure of the higher-order factors of temperament to aid researchers in understanding the relation between these factors and other developmentally important constructs. In this study, we examined the psychometric properties of the CBQ-VSF in preschool children (N = 277) using teachers and parents as informants. Several dimensions of temperament emerged independently of the three higher-order factors. Comparing the extracted factors to other measures of temperament revealed limited convergent and discriminant validity. Further, similar teacher and parent report factors did not correlate. Based on these findings, it is suggested that the CBQ-VSF be refined to better reflect core dimensions that comprise the higher-order factors.     

Gender differences in behavioral regulation in four societies: The United States,Taiwan, South Korea,and China

The current study investigates gender differences in behavioral regulation in four societies: the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. Directly assessed individual behavioral regulation (Head–Toes–Knees–Shoulders, HTKS), teacher-rated classroom behavioral regulation (Child Behavior Rating Scale, CBRS) and a battery of school readiness assessments (mathematics, vocabulary, and early literacy) were used with 814 young children (ages 3–6 years). Results showed that girls in the United States had significantly higher individual behavioral regulation than boys, but there were no significant gender differences in any Asian societies. In contrast, teachers in Taiwan, South Korea, as well as the United States rated girls as significantly higher than boys on classroom behavioral regulation. In addition, for both genders, individual and classroom behavioral regulation were related to many aspects of school readiness in all societies for girls and boys. Universal and culturally specific findings and their implications are discussed.     

Differences in knowledge networks about acids and bases of year-12, undergraduate and postgraduate chemistry students

This study examines differences in conceptual knowledge representations among three groups of students with different levels of study of chemistry. Variation in the structural characteristics of participants’ concept maps on the topic of acid-base equilibrium were sought by indirect means. Year 12 secondary chemistry students, undergraduate chemistry majors and honours, masters and doctoral candidates participated in the study. Paired propositional links in the concept maps for the three groups were analysed by the scaling algorithms “Pathfinder” and multidimensional scaling. Results show differences among groups in the structural significance in the networks of abstract process-related nodes and matter-related nodes. Implications for theories of conceptual change are discussed.     

innovation in canada: an update

In October 1971 the Science Council of Canada published a report on the lowly status of innovative activities in domestic manufacturing. Early in 1972, and again a year later, the Senate Special Committee on Science Policy added some further notes of concern about innovation in the industry in the second and third volumes of its Report. This article reviews the relevant conclusions and recommendations of these documents as well as the government action which had - or had not - been taken in response to them by the autumn of 1975. Attention has been focussed primarily on the federal government which has, for example, introduced several favourable tax measures, passed legislation to screen certain activities of foreign companies, established a new policy to encourage the further processing of natural resources prior to export, and has instructed its own departments and agencies to contract out more of their research requirements to the private sector. It has also encouraged its Ministry of State for Science and Technology to study industrial problems and to develop policies for their solution, and it has established a new bank to provide extended financial assistance and management services to small companies. But the government has still to comply with the Science Council's principal recommendation that an overall national strategy for manufacturing should be formulated.The industry is in some doubt about its future. In the short term, this uncertainty is likely to be aggravated by the difficult economic situation in the industrial world as a whole. The major impediments to innovation in manufacturing in Canada are therefore likely to remain in place for some time to come.